Chapter Eleven
It was now slowly getting colder in Hogwarts. Snow had started to fall, despite the recent heatwave, and everyone was shivering. Even so, that did not stop Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons with the Slytherins becoming that little bit weirder.
Harry groaned and let his head thump against the desk. At that moment they were doing the extremely complicated theory behind why Dementors were scared of by the Patronum charm, and why chocolate helped. It didn't help that Hermione was sitting in the row in front of him and was writing with a vengeance, muttering under her breath.
"Hanging in there Harry?" Percy asked good-naturedly.
Harry smiled weakly. "As well as expected, Professor."
"So, not at all well, I take it."
"Sir, why do we have to do this," Ron piped up from besides Harry. "You said you were dyslexic."
"Which is why I have a charm that will change the text to Ancient Greek. It's the only language I can read."
Hermione's head shot up. "You can read Ancient Greek? Why that specifically?"
"I get it from my family," Percy replied with a shrug. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door slamming open.
The entire class looked over to see what the disturbance was, then gasped as their eyes landed on a person who seemed to have misplaced his legs and decided that a goat's made an adequate substitute, before thinking that perhaps only having legs would make the balance uneven, and stuck a pair of horns on his head as well.
The person...goat ran up to the professor and started talking so fast and breathlessly that no-one could make out a word. Professor Jackson waved his hands in a 'calm down' sort of manner.
"Grover!" he shouted, "Slow down, I don't have a clue what you're saying. Also...what happened to your trousers?"
The man-goat took a few steady breaths. "Percy...came to warn you...Thalia and the hunters are coming to hunt some monsters in that big forest outside the castle. Lady H - you were really dumb to call her Miss Mystical - told the hunters about some giant spiders and wolves and all manner of creepy monsters that needed to be hunted and sent them here."
Percy frowned. "What's so bad about that?"
Grover shook his head. "I don't think you understand... Thalia - the man-hating huntress - is coming to a boarding school which is infested with males. What could possibly go wrong?"
"But her patron is coming too, right?"
"No. She's elsewhere hunting a drakon."
"So...Artemis won't be there to tell her to leave the school alone 'cause it's Miss Mystical's favourite place?"
Grover nodded mutely while Percy paled.
"By the gods, we're doomed," he said, charging out the classroom to, assumedly, head Thalia off before she could enter Hogwarts.
"Percy wait!" Grover called. "What should I do?"
Percy stopped. "Good idea," he said. "You teach the lesson while I get Thalia."
"What!" Grover screeched. "I never suggested that! What am I supposed to teach?"
"I dunno. Figure it out yourself Mr Lord of the Wild. Why don't you teach them how to tree-travel or track people with acorns and magic reed pipes? Meanwhile, I have got to go." The Professor dashed out the door leaving Grover huffing exasperatedly.
"Doesn't think about me," he grumbled to himself. There was a quiet cough from behind him, and he turned to see an entire class of curious faces, and a few frightened ones.
"Umm...who are you?" A bushy-haired girl asked hesitantly.
"Blaha-haaa!" Grover bleated, before slapping a hand over his mouth, causing quite a few giggles.
"Why do you have donkey's legs, Mr?" A red headed boy asked.
"They're goat legs!" Grover responded heatedly. "And I'm Grover. I'm Percy's - I suppose you would call him Professor Jackson's - friend."
"Are you a faun?" The bushy-haired girl asked again.
"Satyr! I am not a pathetic faun asking for spare change."
The girl wrote something down before sticking her hand back in the air and waving it around, giving Grover the curious feeling of being interrogated.
"You're a snitch," Malfoy drawled from the back row.
Grover's shoulders slumped. "Oh, just my luck. I had to get the lesson with Malfoy in it."
Many Gryffindors laughed. Harry smirked. Finally here was an American who shared their dislike of Malfoy.
Draco bristled. "I do go to Hogwarts."
"Yes, you boasted very loudly to the Cabin 20. Apparently even casting a simple levitation charm."
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I suppose Elm told you that." Groves nodded affirmative. "Then you should know that that dryad is a rumour-monger."
"Says the litter-bug."
"I accidentally dropped that can into the lake that one time. You can't still be mad about that."
"Uh...guys," Neville said.
"It dropped on Elana's head and knocked her out cold while she was sewing!" Grover shouted indignantly. "And she was sitting in the middle of the lake. If you dropped it, how could it have had enough force to knock a naiad out cold?"
"Okay, so I tried out a new spell on the can, happy? Besides, Chiron was coming and I had to get rid of it fast."
"Guys..."
"Because you're not allowed to have soda in Camp."
"When did you become all goody-goody? I had to do washing-up duty for a week because you snitched on me. And Elana put water-weed in my bed that I couldn't get rid of. And the worst is that my mum wouldn't let me get revenge. She said I got my just desert. Revenge goddess my foot."
"Well you deserved-"
"Guys!" Neville interrupted loudly. "I don't think this is the time. And...Grover, I think Hermione's hand is going to come off soon."
Hermione's hand had been waving around trying to get Grover's attention during the entire argument between him and Malfoy. Grover gestured for her to answer.
"Sir," she said, "Professor Jackson called you 'Lord of the Wild'. What's that? And what are dryads? Or that other one...naeds...nayads?"
"Naiads...Hermione, was it? Okay...so, there are these spirits. They're nature spirits. They are connected in some way to nature, so dryads are the tree spirits and naiads are water spirits."
"But how come we've never seen one before?" Hermione asked.
Grover shrugged. "As far as I can tell, you're not in tune enough with nature to be able to see them, but it's just speculation."
"And...Lord of the Wild. Is that you?"
"Damn you Percy," Grover murmured. "Okay, so we satyrs protect the wild. The Council of Cloven Elders oversees this conservation, and are called the Lords of the Wild. I took over from an old satyr called Silenus who died a few years back."
There was a sharp ringing sound to signal the end of the lesson. Students jumped to their feet and poured out to go to lunch. Grover let out a sigh of relief at the end of the lesson and headed off to find a few trees to tree-travel back to Long Island. He had picked up tree-travel after the Giant War, deciding that it took too long to travel like a human and it would be easier to save the environment if he could immediately travel to wherever he needed to be.
Meanwhile, Harry went off to lunch. It started normally. Fred and George putting things in drinks, Ron stuffing his face and Hermione simultaneously scolding him and naming all the elements in the periodic table. The usual. And then the doors of the Great Hall banged open and in marched a dozen girls in silver gear and carrying bows.
There was silence. Absolute silence, only broken by the doors slamming ominously shut. The girl in the front with the black spiky hair and silver circlet stepped forwards. "Minerva, we're staying in the forest. Goodbye."
The girl turned to leave but froze as she heard a wolf-whistle. "Who was that?" She asked, dangerously quiet.
Fred jumped to his feet. "It was me, darling," he said in what was supposed to be a seductive voice. "I'm sure one of you lovely ladies would love to-"
He was cut off as the girl in the front pulled out her bow and in one smooth motion mocked an arrow pointing at Fred's head. There was a shocked silence.
"I am Thalia, lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis," she spat, not lowering her bow, "And we do not submit ourselves to males. Not now, not ever."
The intensity of the moment was interrupted by the doors banging open and a very flustered looking Professor Jackson running in. "Minerva, Thalia and the hunters-" he stopped short at catching sight of the scene in front of him, "-are right here."
Professor McGonagall shot to her feet, fury written on every inch of her features. "PERSEUS JACKSON!" She thundered.
"Ooh, bringing out the full name, are we?" Thalia murmured. A few hunters tittered.
"WHY DID YOU NOT INFORM ME OF THIS IMMEDIATELY?"
Percy winced and glanced at Thalia, who's bow was still aimed for Fred's heart. "I was kinda hoping to avoid...this."
"Obviously that didn't work," Professor McGonagall commented dryly.
"Yeah," Percy sighed. "That's literally my life. Umm...Thalia? Do you mind lowering the bow? Usually people don't greet others by threatening to kill them."
"He hit on me," Thalia accused.
"Oof," Percy winced again. "Things aren't looking good for you Fred. Sorry mate." Thalia smirked as Fred backed away. "But wouldn't everyone agree that it would be better if she and the hunters...left?"
"And not exact revenge?" Phoebe, one of the hunters, asked indignantly. "Was it not that male who insulted our lieutenant? Doth you not think that we deserve vengeance?"
"Umm...Phoebe...he was only messing around," Percy pointed out cautiously as Fred nodded eagerly.
Thalia sniffed imperiously and lowered her bow. Fred breathed out a sigh of relief. Thalia cocked her head as if she was thinking and turned around, snapping her fingers. Fred glanced warily around before straightening up sharply. He lifted his hands and looked at them. They were sprouting fur...and claws. He went up to feel his head, and found a pair of ears and a pair of antlers. A look of shock crossed his face as he shrunk, ending up as a small cute jackelope sitting on the table.
Percy shrugged. "Better than killing him. Now, why don't I chivvy you and your hunters out of the Great Hall before you turn anymore people into jackelopes. And just for future reference, I'm still jealous that you can do that."
Thalia smirked. "Maybe you should get an immortal patron. Everyone's doing it these days."
"Oh, really? You want that? Well, go tell Lady Artemis that your step-mom wanted to be my patron. And she was terrible. She called me a loose cannon."
"I rather think she was stating a fact."
"Oh, haha. Real mature. For a woman almost in her thirties."
Harry looked over at Hermione. Thalia was barely sixteen. What on earth was their Professor talking about?
"Shut up Kelp Head," Thalia snapped. "Just show me the damn forest."
Percy cracked a smile. "I can show you the dam lake."
"How about the dam snack bar? Got one of those?" Thalia laughed, all previous animosity gone. They two of them walked back to the Great Hall's door, closely followed by the hunters, before stopping.
"Umm, Thalia... Just to be clear...Fred will turn back to Fred in the morning...right?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, whatever."
The doors banged shut, leaving an eery silence. George scooped up Fred and tickled behind his ear.
"Awwww, Freddie Weddie is a wittle bunny-wunny," he cooed, breaking the silence. Professor McGonagall all but melted, bringing her forehead down hard on the table.
"I swear I will gut that Poseidon-spawn, engaged to my sister or not," she muttered, before mouthing a few profanities that students definitely should not hear and decided that Fred had to go to lessons anyway, despite his new status as a bunny.
Well, she thought, at least it's almost Christmas. We get a break and Percy can return to Camp. Peace and quiet at Hogwarts.
Well, she was right about the Christmas part.
Here it is. And, OMG HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD IS OUT! It was so good! Personally, I still prefer Percy Jackson, but that didn't stop it from being great! So many plot twists. And Snape! I really never expected to end up loving his character as much as I do now. I was sooooo excited when he showed up. But, no more spoilers and on to reviews!
InkWizard: Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
Youdontseethis: Sometimes reading too quickly is a curse. Thanks!
Throughthelookingglass27: Yeah, the pants/trousers thing can be confusing.
PinconeFace1221: Thank you for the feedback! (And the flattery! = )
toolazytologin: Thanks!
Guest Girl: You're welcome! Don't hesitate to suggest new ideas!
Unknown girl 345: Thank you!
Guest: I will
Huffleclaw sparkspixie7904: I will continue the story, I have no intentions of giving up.
Guest: Here is 11! Hope you like it!
As always, reviews welcome, feedback appreciated and follows and favourites make me VERY happy. Remember, I don't know what you're thinking unless you review!
Star, xoxo